Escutcheon eor keyholes



, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDMUND FIELD, OF GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT.

ESCUTCHEON FOR KEYHOLES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 16,792, dated March 10, 1857.

T 0 all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, EDMUND FIELD, of Greenwich, in the county ofFairfield and State o-f Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulImprovementin Keyhole-Drops for Locks, being a new article ofmanufacture; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theannexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figurel is a. front or face view of my impro-vement applied to the escutcheonof a lock. Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same, the escutcheon beingbisected vertically.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the twofigures. This invention consists of a new article of manufacture, viz.,a key-hole drop, which is composed of two parts, pivoted together. Thisimprovement is designed to be applied to sunken escutcheons, and by itsuse the escutcheons may be made much smaller in diameter than if theusual drop were employed.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct myinvention, I will proceed to describe it.

A, represents a sunken escutcheon, that is, the escutcheon is of dishform and is fitted within the door, the outer edge of the rim being Hushwith the surface of the door.

B, represents the key hole, and 0, is the drop. The drop C, is formed oftwo parts b, c, connected by a pivot (l. The upper end of the part b, ispivoted to the back plate of the escutcheon directly over and in linewith the center of the key hole B, as shown at o1, so thatthe drop will,by its own gravity, cover the key hole. The two parts b, o, of theescutcheon are allowed to work freely on the pivot (l, so that a jointis formed thereby.

From the description of parts, it will be seen that if the drop C, weremade in one piece, as usual, it could not be turned to one side of thekey hole, for t-he lower end of the drop cannot clear the lower part ofthe sides of the escutcheon, but in consequence of having the dropjointed as shown, it folds as it is turned one side, as shown in red,Fig. l, and the key hole is fully exposed.

The advantage of the above improvement is, that the escutcheon may bemade much smaller in diameter than if the usual drop were employed. Infact, to accommodate the ordinary drop, the escutcheon would require tobe so large in diameter that it would disfigure the door, or at least,would not have that neat appearance, which a smaller one has. Besides,the large escutcheons are more expensive, requiring more metal and alsomore labor in constructing them.

The use of my improvement permits the escutcheon and lock to be madenearly one half smaller than they otherwise could be, and thus insures asaving in expense of at least thirty-three per cent. in many cases. Hyimprovement, it is true, is simple'. But it is one of those deviceswhich, however apparently unimportant, in itself considered,nevertheless effects highly useful results. Beside the cheapening of thelock, and the improvement of appearance, my invention permits theemployment of escutcheon locks in very many cases where, owing to theirlarge size, it is now impossible to use them, except without a drop.Another advantage of my new article is that it may be used ony commonfiat door locks; and, since it folds, in revolving, it will 'not passbeyond the edges of the key-hole plate sufiiciently for to mark thedoor. But by the use of the common drop, the door soon becomes marred bythe rubbing of the drop upon it, as it revolves; a large, worn circlebeing produced upon the door, which presents an untidy appearance.

I do not claim the broad idea of joint-ing metallic or other bars bymeans of hinges or pivots, as this is everywhere well known. But akey-hole drop, made in two parts, pivoted together, has never beforebeen known. It is a new article of manufacture, possessing virtues andadvantages not seen in any other article of the kind.

Therefore, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, as a newarticle of manufacture,-

The key-hole drop, C, composed of two parts, (I), c) pivoted together.

EDMUN D FIELD.

Witnesses:

EZRA KEELER, MICHAEL B. CARPENTER.

